Death of the paediatric manikin: a scoping review.

Introduction: Whether the manikin should die in simulation training is a controversial area, with some educators stating that manikin death is essential in providing realistic training, while others state that the psychological burden of manikin death could derail learning and impair psychological safety. This scoping review aims to explore the existing literature regarding death of the manikin in paediatric and neonatal simulation education.

Methods: The literature was searched for publications regarding paediatric and/or neonatal manikin death in simulation training. The same search strategy was used across MEDLINE (OVID), Embase (OVID), CINAHL (EBSCO) and PsycInfo (OVID) databases. Articles were screened against predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results: 810 articles were identified. 807 were excluded (duplicates/did not meet criteria). Three articles were suitable for inclusion in the final review. Included studies were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis approach.

Conclusions: There is a paucity of research in this important area of simulation training. From the limited research available, the following themes were identified: death of the paediatric manikin can increase scenario realism; participation in paediatric manikin death scenarios was not more stressful than participating in standard simulation; and the debrief has a crucial role in mitigating the potentially negative impacts of paediatric manikin death for learners.Death of the paediatric and neonatal manikin can provide a beneficial educational experience for participants but requires considered and experienced facilitation.